Chelsea 3-0 PSG (Palmer 22′, 30′, Pedro 43′ | Neves red card 85′)
Chelsea’s interminable season ended in triumph with an impressive dismantling of Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final in New Jersey.
Fifa’s supersized tournament has prompted scepticism and cynicism, but the Blues have relished it, not only steamrolling Europe’s best side, but banking around £90m in prize money in a month.
Deja Vu Vibes! See his second Cole Palmer goal from ALL ANGLES
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It’s like watching the first… but somehow colder
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Cole Palmer was the difference-maker in the final, just as he was at the end of May when Chelsea thrashed Real Betis 4-1 to win the Conference League in Poland.
The 23-year-old set the tone by bending a shot narrowly wide inside the opening 10 minutes as Enzo Maresca’s side unsettled their heavily fancied opponents.
Palmer was just getting his range. The 23-year-old opened the scoring with his second attempt, calmly picking out Gianluigi Donnarumma’s bottom right corner with his instep after Malo Gusto had bypassed the usually infallible Nuno Mendes.
Within eight minutes, the England international doubled his side’s tally with an identical finish, rolled agonisingly beyond the towering Italian’s reach.
He wasn’t done there, turning from scorer to provider just before half-time with a cushioned pass through to Joao Pedro, who dinked a confident finish over Donnarumma to make it three before the break.
Player of the match – Cole Palmer
So clinical, producing two sublime finishes and an inch-perfect assist to put Chelsea in control. Big game player.
The Brazilian only joined Chelsea 12 days ago in a £60m move from Brighton, but has quickly usurped Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap in the pecking order with three fine goals in his first two games.
PSG have looked like world beaters lately, putting Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid away by an aggregate score of 15-0 since 31 May. Chelsea did to them what they have inflicted on others. Plenty predicted a one-sided final, just not this way.
As Palmer warmed his shoulders up in trademark celebration, PSG’s shellshocked stars stood frozen to the spot.
They improved in the second half and might have staged a comeback had Robert Sanchez not made a miraculous stop to deny Ousmane Dembele after the restart. For all their possession, they found a blue wall difficult to bypass.
As well as the Champions League, PSG lifted the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de la Ligue to complete a treble. They are unaccustomed to losing, and as their hope of salvaging anything ebbed away, their fury and frustration intensified.
Five minutes from the end, midfielder Joao Neves was sent off, following a VAR review, after a petulant tug of Marc Cucurella’s hair. Nuno Mendes was booked for careering recklessly into Christopher Nkunku just before the end, before all hell broke loose after the final whistle.
Donnarumma can expect a ban coming his way after slapping Joao Pedro in the face, as remonstrations between both sets of players ramped up. Maresca did his best to drag his players away from their seething opponents.
“He’s building something special, something important,” Palmer said of Maresca. “We have a young team. Everyone’s talked a lot of shit about us all season but I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”
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At times, the football felt almost secondary with so much else going on.
Gianni Infantino’s bromance with Donald Trump continued with the US President joining Fifa’s president in the MetLife Stadium’s posh seats.
The event received the classic US razzmatazz whenever possible. A Marine One flyover, a mini Robbie Williams concert and an introduction from boxing’s rent-a-rumble Michael Buffer all contributed to an eight-minute delay to kick-off.
A bizarre half-time show held in the top stand and organised by Coldplay’s Chris Martin followed, holding up the start of the second period.
Chelsea were unperturbed by the glitz and glamour, shutting out the noise and producing a performance to make the Premier League and the rest of Europe take notice. Perhaps this tournament wasn’t a waste of time after all.
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